The Painter from
Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein (WW Norton, ISBN 9780393065282,
$24.95)
If you enjoyed
Memoirs of a Geisha, or Snowflower and the Secret Fan this is the
book for you. The Painter from Shanghai artfully explores the moving
true-story of Pan Yuliang, a talented and controversial painter from the
early 20th century.
The young woman named
Xiuqing has lost both her parents and now lives with her educated and
traditional uncle. Heavily addicted to opium and in debt, her uncle betrays
her. He sells her to a "flower house" when she is 12. Xiuqing then becomes
known as Yuliang, meaning good jade. Yuliang endures many years as a
prostitute, comforted only by the presence of her friend and mentor, the top
girl of the house, Jinling.
Finally Yuliang is
freed from slavery; she falls in love and is married. During this marriage
she is encouraged to learn and to express herself. Yuliang discovers an
all-consuming desire to draw and paint. Her courage and tenacity lead her to
enter first the schools of art and then the business of art at a time when
women were not taken seriously in any professional field. Her shocking nude
paintings caused much scandal and changed the history of art.
For it is her
face, after all—her own face, untouched by shame or makeup—that makes
the painting so outright revolutionary. She's taken Manet and outdone
him by a step; she stares down the tabloids, the whispers, the academy,
dressed only in the nude truth of her talent. She dares it to order her
to redress.
"The Painter from
Shanghai" is true to the historical events that took place during Yuliang's
life. The storyline follows Chinese politics, the upheaval in 1920s France,
and the emergence of feminism. This is a beautiful depiction of a strong
woman capable of fulfilling her desires and pursuing her own path.
Review by
Laura
Flaugher, April 17, 2008
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